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The River made a big splash at San Diego Comic-Con 2011. We learned more about the show and its cast, which we will share with you in several Comic-Con posts. First and most interesting to me were the thoughts from executive producer Oren Peli and writers Zack Estrin and Michael Green.

In all of this talk about the show The River and its cast, we forget that the real star will be The Amazon River. It’s the “second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of The Amazon).

Joe Anderson, from the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1 & 2, stars as Lincoln Cole in The River. We don’t know much about his character yet, except that he felt distanced from his father, Emmet. Lincoln seems to have gladly moved on when his father goes missing, and he seems all too bothered when his mother Tess tries to convince him that Emmet is still alive.

I’m sure that Lincoln will be among the most interesting characters in The River, because he is a doubter. A doubter in himself, his father and his mother. He is also a skeptic when it comes to the “magic” of the Amazon. Lincoln will likely be our most transformative character. He will give up his heavy drinking and meandering ways to become a believer.

To the millions of kids who grew up watching his nature show, Dr. Cole was a hero. To his own son Lincoln (Joe Anderson), he was more of an enigma. Now, six months after he vanished, Lincoln is finally ready to bury the past when Dr. Cole’s emergency beacon suddenly goes off. At the urging of his mother Tess (Leslie Hope), Lincoln reluctantly joins her on a search for his father. To fund the rescue, they agree to let Dr. Cole’s cagey ex-producer Clark (Paul Blackthorne) film the mission documentary-style.

The mixed crew of old friends and new acquaintances includes the sexy and resourceful Lena (Eloise Mumford), loyal mechanic Emilio (Daniel Zacapa) and lethal bodyguard Captain Kurt Brynildson (Thomas Kretschmann). Once they find The Magus, the real adventure begins. In the search for Dr. Cole, they will encounter a scary new mystery each week, while struggling with their own personal jealousies, insecurities, secrets and desires. As they venture further into the Amazon, away from the world they know, the crew of The Magus will discover a place where one bad decision can be fatal, and where powerful magic is as real as science.

Sort of? Count me among the legion of Lost fanatics who have struggled to find a suitable replacement show. We’re lacking the great character depth, the un-ending mind-benders, fear, and love. Lost had all that and early indications are that The River is striving for that. So while the creators may not like the comparisons, it’s up to them to give The River its own unique place in our worlds.

One thing that makes The River and Lost so unique are their locations. When you think about building the elements of fear, having obscure, strange and beautiful locations creates the kind of everyday wonder to bring our fear to the next level. Compare that to CBS’s upcoming Person of Interest; sure they have Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus on Lost) and JJ Abrams, but they also have the modern world – streets, cops, national security – built into their everyday scenery. The Amazon will bring us a whole lot of mystery and possibility.

What do you think? Are you skeptical of the show’s future because of Lost? Is it the only reason you’re going to give it a chance?